District Administration - July 2006 - (Page 50)

Clark County Nev. School District OPERATING BUDGET: $ 3,606,990,572 $3,606,990,572 DISTRICT BUDGET: $2.04 billion The School District up the benefits Funding Percent: here long-term of Philadelphia Local: 40% budgets provide State: 59% predictability ST YLE : Five-year budget proposals Federal/Other: 1% and stability, two foundational Pau l Vallas is the fi rst to admit Philadelphia is not Number of students: 204,865 cornerstones one of the better funded urban districts yet he just Budget approval timeline: to district-wide oversaw its third successful, structurally balanced Budget must be adopted by reform. budget and fi nancial stability. We don't have all May 31st Schools are the resources we need, but we've been able to fi nd a willing to live way to implement our reforms. We've found a way Who approves budget: with less if they to spend our money more effectively, he says. Best School Reform Commission know what they of all, only $5 million of his $2 billion budget stems have to work from one-time revenues. with, Vallas insists. When you use the roller coaster He has a track record of creating such miracles budget of year to year, it becomes feast or famine. You when Vallas left Chicago Public Schools in 2001 as don't know if the money will be there next year, so you its CEO, he left behind a balanced budget and $355 have a tendency to spend every dime. million as an operating reserve. Obviously, his insis- On a personal note, the budgeting strategy feeds t ence on a five-year budget proposal works as well his policy guru tendencies. He cross-trains his budget- in an educational arena as it did when he served i ng folks to understand core missions and his princi- as budget director for the City of Chicago and as pa ls to understand a balance sheet. executive director of the Illinois Economic and Test scores go up, the fi rst people I congratulate Fiscal Commission. after the teachers are the budget people, he says. It forces me to make decisions on revenues and But announcing a budget policy, even when you're spending that have long-term implications, he says. For the head honcho, doesn't make it so. Vallas had to example, a dollar saved in 2006 is actually $5 over the sell it to the community and the ADVICE: Even if you're poor and don't have a collective bargaining units. He won over the unions by includ- lot of resources, you need five years of finan- i ng their representatives in his cial stability. If you make the tough decisions cabinet meetings. They can see in year 1, then in years 2, 3, 4 and 5 the schools what's happening on a daily basis, so there's no mistrust. When will be relieved. It's when you go through the budget process begins, they these periodic financial traumas every few understand the budget as well as years that kills reforms. my department heads do. They Second, don't be afraid of the private sector. know the resources, how we're spending money and the fi nancial We outsource anything we can, and often times challenges we're facing, he says. they let me pay over a four- or five-year period They see what I see. which is much more affordable. At negotiation time, the union knows the School District of Paul Vallas, CEO, The School District of Philadelphia Philadelphia's capacity to pay to the penny, and just how far he can go in course of a five-year fiscal plan. And when you bud- providing raises and increasing benefits without cutting get this way, you never really have a financial crisis, into critical reforms that improve student achievements. Vallas adds. By intervening early, you take much less I've never negotiated a contract that's busted my punitive or Draconian measures. Nor does he wrap budget, Vallas notes. 50 July 2006 District Administration budgets.w.indd 50 6/19/06 11:15:20 AM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Letters
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Mixed Reviews
Making Reading Count
No-Nonsense Networking
Cover Story: Money Talks
Making Choices
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Public Opinion
Problem/Solution
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - July 2006